How much would it cost for you to give up your seat on an airplane? $100? $500? $1000? How about $10,000?

 

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Me watching the flight leave after collecting my $10,000...Photo by Mario Tama via Getty Images
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Why Would an Airline Pay Passengers $10,000 to Give Up Their Seat?

It is being reported that Delta Airlines offered some passengers $10,000 to be bumped and take a later flight. It's also being reported that quite a few of them turned it down!

It happened at Gerald R. Ford International Airport in Grand Rapids, Michigan when a flight to Minneapolis was overbooked last week.

As it usually happens, prior to take off, a Delta Airlines employee announced that they were looking for eight passengers to give up their seat on the flight.

One of the passengers was Jason Aten, a writer for Inc. magazine. He even wrote about the unusual offer:

As we sat on the plane waiting to leave the gate, the announcement overhead explained that the flight was apparently oversold and they were looking for eight volunteers. In exchange for their seats, Delta was offering $10,000 cash. 'If you have Apple Pay, you’ll even have the money right now,' the flight attendant said.

As it turns out, Aten didn't take the money. He said, "for reasons I’m not going to get into because my wife is still not pleased about it."

Another man, Todd McCrumb, says he too was offered the $10,000. Can you believe, he also didn’t take the money! He explained his reasoning, and it kind of made sense.

McCrumb clarified that it was a gradual growth to get to the $10,000 amount. He says the airline started at $5,000 to give up the seats, then raised the offer to $7,500 and then again to $10,000.

“I look at my wife and go, ‘Honey, we gotta do this!’” said McCrumb. “She says, ‘No!’ And then the lady says, the stewardess says, ‘This will be paid immediately via Apple Pay … or a Visa gift card.’”

McCrumb says that he did see four people take the money.

Would You Give Up Your Seat on a Flight for $10,000?

As you can expect, the internet couldn't believe that people didn't take the money:

Even McCrumb himself, who was offered the opportunity, but had to go along with his wife because of her ailment, didn't understand why she wouldn't give up her seat.

 

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